James Laxer - Official Family Obituary and Public Memorial Service Announcement

James Robert Laxer, Professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York University, died suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack in Paris, February 23, 2018. He is survived by his spouse Sandy Price, four children, Michael, Kate, Emily, and Jonathan, four grandchildren, Nathaniel, Julia, Benjamin, and Robert and siblings Linda and Gord. Jim was born in Montreal on December 22nd 1941 to Edna May (née Quentin), a social worker, and Robert Laxer, a psychology professor, both political activists. Jim grew up in a Communist household in Toronto during the McCarthy era, a history he chronicled in his memoir Red Diaper Baby. In the late 1960s, with economist Mel Watkins, and others, Jim played a central role in the founding of the left-wing nationalist movement within the New Democratic Party (NDP), that became popularly known as the "Waffle". In 1971, he ran for the leadership of the NDP and came in second behind David Lewis. After the Waffle disbanded, Jim became an influential academic, author, columnist, and television personality. He wrote over twenty books on the Canadian economy, Canadian politics, free trade, the oil and gas industry and Canadian history. In the 1980s, he hosted a current affairs show called The Real Story and was the host of the 1986 National Film Board documentary series, Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada, for which he won a Gemini Award. Jim's work and opinion pieces have appeared in many Canadian newspapers and magazines, and for several years he was a columnist for the Toronto Star. At the time of his death, Jim was in Europe researching his next book on Canada’s role in the Second World War. His teaching, writing, activism, and concern for greater equality and the future of Canada motivated him throughout his life. He was a loving and wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and friend to many, with a huge heart and a tremendous sense of humour. A service to celebrate Jim’s life will be held on Saturday, March 3 at 10am in the Great Hall at Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle, Toronto.

James Laxer -- Canadian iconoclast 1941-2018

James Laxer, my father, died suddenly and unexpectedly in Paris on Friday, February 23, 2018 doing what he loved most -- working on a new book about Canadian history while travelling with his constant companion and spouse, Sandy Price.

Jim was an exceptional writer, talent and intellectual whose impact on Canadian left wing politics would be hard to overstate. Having grown up in a Communist household with his siblings, Gord and Linda, and his mother, Edna May and father Robert, he was born into a life of left wing activism from an early age. He wrote about this in his award-winning memoir Red Diaper Baby. 

After the death of Stalin and the revelations about his crimes,  Robert and Edna May left the Communist Party though they never lost faith in the left broadly and the cause of socialism. Jim carried these beliefs forward as well when he was involved in the formation of the Movement for an Independent Socialist Canada with political economist Mel Watkins, and others. 

This thread within the NDP became known as the "Waffle" and espoused a radically socialist and left-nationalist position challenging the party's establishment. In 1971 Jim ran for the leadership of the party at a convention that was expected to be a coronation of David Lewis. 

It wasn't.

In fact, Jim had an unexpectedly strong showing, coming in second and taking a third of the vote. The result stunned the party elite and the Lewis family. It terrified them. The following year in Orillia, Ontario the ONDP's Provincial Council at the behest of ONDP leader Stephen Lewis, David Lewis' son, voted to order the Waffle to either disband or to leave the NDP.

It was a petty and terribly anti-democratic action that would have consequences which would reverberate down through the history of  the party to this day. It laid the very foundations of the top-down, leader driven party that we see now, a party that regularly ignores the motions or wishes of its membership.

Jim and many others decided to leave the party and he ran as a Waffle candidate in the federal election of 1974, losing badly. The Waffle disbanded after that and with it a generation of young activists and left intellectuals felt alienated from the NDP, with many never coming back. 

With the end of the Waffle he became a prominent academic, teaching at York University, as well as a prolific writer, commentator and TV personality. In 1981 he became the NDP's research director under leader Ed Broadbent, leaving in 1983 after writing a report that became headline news deriding the NDP's economic policies as being out-of-date. He kept a copy of an editorial cartoon showing him walking with Broadbent past the skeleton of a dinosaur with the caption "I have a bone to pick with you" on the wall of his study to this day. 

His many books have been incredibly influential within the Canadian left and Canadian politics. They covered the range of topics from economics to issues like free trade and the petroleum industry to, more recently, his great passion for Canadian history. Some, like The Liberal Idea of Canada (which he co-wrote with his father) are considered classics of Canadian political thinking. He also hosted both TVOntario's The Real Story current affairs show and the award-winning National Film Board documentary Reckoning: The Political Economy of Canada in the 1980s.

Throughout this my father remained, above all, a left-wing iconoclast. He was never afraid, in any context or any forum, to say that the emperor had no clothes or to take on those in power or with power. He never backed down from intellectual and political debate or discourse no matter the challenge or the alleged authority of those whose ideas he questioned.

In an era when so many bow to party lines, the flavours of the month and political fictions, he never did. 

But Jim was also so much more. He was a wonderful father to my sisters Kate and Emily, my brother Jon and I. He was engaging, approachable, human and funny. He truly enjoyed and embraced teaching. His students meant a lot to him.

He was always there with a smile, a silly joke, a happy countenance. Even in hard or sad times he tried to make people feel better or to make people laugh. He loved his grandchildren deeply and his family above all.

A unique figure during these past few decades of Canadian politics, Jim always tried to fight for and suggest a path forward towards a fairer and more just Canada, an independent and socialist Canada, regardless of whose feathers this ruffled or whose feet he stepped on. Not one to shy away from what he believed, he provides a lesson to all of us on the left of how to stand up for what we think is right no matter the short term cost and irrespective of careerist goals. 

That, as much as anything else, is a legacy worth embracing and one I hope is not soon forgotten. 

In Memoriam: James Laxer 1941 - 2018

It is with an extremely heavy heart and great sadness that I have to share with you the news of my father, James Laxer's sudden death of natural causes in Paris early today, February 23, 2018. This shocking and totally unexpected news has been devastating for our family and has not sunk in yet.

My father, Jim, was a exceptionally talented writer and a truly brilliant man. His writing and activism over the decades had a profound impact on the country from the Waffle to the present day. Someday soon, when I have had time to process what has happened I will write again of his life and accomplishments.

But he was also a loving and wonderful father, with a huge heart, great kindness and a tremendous, notoriously goofy sense of humour.

He was greatly loved and will be terribly missed.

Palanga -- A 1970s Trip to a Soviet Baltic Resort Part II

This is the second of two parts looking at the USSR Baltic resort town of Palanga. While the first part showed more of the nature, beaches and parkland, the second part has photos of the extensive facilities, hotels, cafes, airports, etc. built after the war.

I am particularly fond of the impressively modernist Vasara Restaurant design, indicative of an era of experimental Soviet architecture.

Palanga on the Baltic Sea in Lithuania is famous for its beaches, botanical park, museums and natural setting.

During the Soviet era, which is when this book is from, the town and its attractions were developed greatly and it was a popular destination for vacationing Soviet workers. Trips to the resort, its medical facilities and its spas and hotels were often heavily subsidized by the state or even free for members of Soviet trade unions.

Much of the resort was built after the Second World War on lands expropriated from a Lithuanian Count.

This book, published in 1978, gives a brief overview of what made the town so attractive as well as a little of its history. It was both a keepsake and meant to attract tourists. This is the second of two parts looking at it and its photos.

For part one click here.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Troubling TTC youth fare incident a sign of things to come

What happens when a City Council and transit service try to scapegoat riders for the system's ills, greatly exaggerate the significance and impact on the system of alleged "fare evasion", and even muse about requiring children to carry cards to prove they should get the free fare that they are entitled to?

Well, one predictable result is that a number of rent-a-cop fare inspectors are hired and get it into their heads (or are told) that they are there to aggressively confront and "catch" riders -- including young people -- who are supposedly evading fares that are at most $3.25 and can be $2 or even free (in the case of kids 12 and under), leading to incidents of grotesque overreaction.

In fact, we predicted it!:

This new system [of fare enforcement} will be backed up by TTC security that are paid handsomely to police the minuscule problem of fare evasion, basically guaranteeing abusive and confrontational interactions between fake cops and children and their parents.
Anyone who thinks this new regime of crass fare intimidation will have an equal impact across social, class and community lines knows little about them.
This is truly, deeply, madly wrong-headed and is a sad reflection of how desperate Councillors and the Mayor are to deflect their terrible decision making and boondoggles -- like throwing billions away on a single stop subway extension -- by making kids the target. 

Lo and behold, yesterday two TTC fare inspectors seemed to go "above and beyond" by physically confronting a black 15 year old transit rider who was apparently trying to exit the vehicle he was on when one of the 'officers' "grabbed him by the back of his coat and dragged him back into the vehicle".

Remember that this was over what would have been an attempt to determine if he had "evaded" a $2 fare.

$2.

From there things deteriorated with the inspectors apparently dragging him off the vehicle (that he had been attempting to leave) and pinning him to the ground. The actual police were contacted and arrived at the scene.

Part of the incident was captured on video by Bethany EJ McBride.

You can watch it below.



You can read more details on CP24, the Toronto Star and her Facebook page.

Once the police had arrived and talked to the young man he was promptly released (but only after having been handcuffed) because he had not "committed any criminal offence".

So why was he grabbed, then dragged off the vehicle and pinned to the ground in the first place?

Given how confrontational this was, one wonders how many incidents of intimidation of youth have occurred that would have been terrifying or unpleasant for them but that did not go quite this far and were never heard about.

The TTC is investigating and these 'officers' may well be disciplined, but either way, the incident points to a troubling fact.

That is that if you create a narrative where "fare evasion" is supposedly a major issue (despite the fact that even those who see it as a serious problem admit that 96-98% of riders are paying exactly as they are supposed to), and where pseudo-cops are hired and tasked with bothering and confronting riders on crowded vehicles -- the vast, vast majority of whom have done nothing wrong -- outcomes like this one are inevitable.

And as we noted before, anyone who thinks that a new or more aggressive regime of fare intimidation will have an equal impact or be equally or as confrontationally applied across social, class and community lines is totally out-to-lunch.

See also: TTC fare fallacies -- Neoliberal delusions in transit costing

Palanga -- A 1970s Trip to a Soviet Baltic Resort

Palanga is a resort town on the Baltic Sea in Lithuania that is famous for its beaches, botanical park, museums and natural setting.

During the Soviet era, which is when this book is from, the town and its facilities were developed greatly and it was a popular destination for vacationing Soviet workers. Trips to the resort, its medical facilities and its spas and hotels were often heavily subsidized by the state or even free for members of Soviet trade unions.

Much of the resort was built after the Second World War on lands expropriated from a Lithuanian Count.

This book, published in 1978, gives a brief overview of what made the town so attractive as well as a little of its history. It was both a keepsake and meant to attract tourists. This is the first of two parts looking at it and its photos.

This first part shows more of the nature, beaches and parkland whereas the second part has more photos of the facilities, hotels, the airport, etc.

(Click on images to enlarge)

See also: Sochi 1978 -- A Postcard Visit to a Soviet Resort City

See also: Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy USSR -- Photos 1968